Hello, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

My name's Mr. Newton, and I'll be your teacher today, guiding you through the entire lesson.

Right, let's get started.

Over the next few lessons we'll be thinking about our big inquiry question, "How did war impact Germany?" This is a question we will use to investigate what the conditions were like in Germany after the war.

In 1914, Germany was a towering force, confident in its own strength as a nation.

But by 1918, after four years of relentless war, the nation lay shattered.

Their once mighty emperor abdicated, and a new democratic regime was declared, the Weimar Republic.

As the First World War guns fell silent and the war officially ended with an Armistice, hope for peace flickered.

Yet beneath the surface, resentment brewed.

The allies were crafting the terms of Germany's surrender.

Terms that would soon shock the nation to its core.

How would a proud and battered Germany respond to what was coming? By the end of this session, you will be able to explain why there was opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in Germany.

Before we begin, there are a few keywords that we need to understand.

Dolchstoss, was the theory that the German army had been stabbed in the back and betrayed by the Weimar politicians.

A treaty is a written agreement between two or more countries, formally approved and signed by their leaders.

And a diktat is an order that must be obeyed, or the act of giving such an order.

And finally, reparations are payments made by defeated nation after a war to pay for damages or expenses it caused to another nation.

Today's lesson is split up into two parts.

We'll first set the context with regards to the public anger already aimed towards the Weimar politicians before moving on to the impact that the Treaty of Versailles had.

Right, let's begin with public anger against the Weimar politicians.

When the Armistice was declared on the 11th of November 1918, bringing the First World War to a close, the response in Germany was complex and conflicted.

And we can see from this front page from the New York Times newspaper.

The headline reads, "Armistice signed, end of the war! Berlin seized by revolutionists.

New chancellor begs for order.

Ousted Kaiser flees to Holland." And this really captures the mood.

In fact, the turmoil in Germany after the Armistice was signed.

On the one hand, there was relief.

The war had brought unimaginable hardship, from food shortages to the loss of millions of lives.

But Germany was also a nation with a proud military tradition.

And for four years, its people had been fed a steady stream of optimism through state-controlled propaganda.

Newspapers spoke of victory being just over the horizon.

And no foreign army had actually stepped foot on German soil.

So many believed their forces were still holding strong.

This illusion, however, was shattered when the Kaiser abdicated and the Weimar politicians signed an Armistice.

The soldiers, general, and civilians alike.

It felt like betrayal.

Why have the politicians so quickly submitted in this way? Military generals quickly distanced themselves from the surrender.

And in the photo on the left, we can see two of the most senior generals of Germany, General Paul von Hindenburg on the left, and General Erich Ludendorff on the right, and Kaiser Wilhelm II in the middle.

This photo shows them all huddled around a map, strategizing the war effort.

And this is a striking symbol of how the German military generals were deeply intertwined with the government, wielding immense influence over decision making, both military and national policy.

However, after the Armistice, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, once at the heart of the Kaiser's government, now distanced themselves from the surrender, leaving the burden of blame to fall squarely on the shoulders of the new Weimar Republic.

For many Germans, the abrupt end to the war came not as a victory or even a necessary defeat, it came as a bit of shock.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? The signing of the Armistice was widely celebrated across Germany as a victory and a chance for national pride.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the correct answer was false.

But why is that false? I want you to try and justify your answer.

So pause the video, think about your explanation, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the answer was that the Armistice was met with relief and resentment by many Germans.

And this was because it shattered the illusion of victory and was seen as a betrayal by Weimar politicians.

Okay, let's continue the story.

Many German military leaders such as Hindenburg and Ludendorff, had sown the first seeds of what would become known as the Dolchstoss or stab-in-the-back theory.

This was a narrative that suggested Germany's defeat in the First World War was not the result of military failure but of betrayal by civilian politicians.

According to this view, the soldiers at the front had been undermined by the weakness and disloyalty of the Weimar politicians who had stabbed the soldiers in the back.

And if we have a look at the cartoon on the left, we can see a depiction of the Weimar politicians as treacherous figures attacking soldiers in the trenches, stabbing them in the back.

The cartoons caption declares, "That's you, you scoundrel.

Germans, remember." And this is acting as a rallying cry designed to fuel public anger, and assign blame for Germany's defeat.

Not to its military failures, but to the perceived disloyalty of its civilian leadership, the politicians.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

And what I want you to do here is change one word in the sentence below to make it correct.

So identify the word that you want to change and then change it through the correct word that will enable the sentence to be correct.

Pause the video, have a go, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you identified that the word patted was the incorrect word, and that needed to be changed to stabbed.

So the sentence should have read, "Many Germans believed in the Dolchstoss theory, the belief that the soldiers on the front were stabbed in the back by the Weimar politicians." So this public anger which had built up against the Weimar politicians meant that they were branded the "November Criminals." And this was a nickname used to suggest that they had betrayed the nation during the Armistice of November 1918.

Hence, the November Criminals.

And these attacks were more than just insults.

They carried real dangers.

Political assassinations became disturbingly common with supporters of the republic, like Matthias Erzberger and Walther Rathenau were targeted by extremist groups.

The stab-in-the-back narrative gained further traction when the formal treaty ending the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles, was signed in June 1919.

The treaty gave strict terms to Germany, but the Weimar politicians had no choice but to agree to them, knowing that refusal would mean the resumption of war.

Yet to many Germans, the signing was not an act of common sense, but treachery.

A photograph of the signing ceremony circulated widely, and whispers ran through the streets of Germany.

"We were not defeated.

We were betrayed." Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following best defines a treaty? A, a formal agreement to end hostilities or establish peace, B, a legal document assigning blame for a conflict, or C, a set of demands placed on a defeated country? Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew it was A, a formal agreements to end hostilities or establish peace.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to Task A.

And you can see here that I provided you with that cartoon showing Weimar politicians having the German army in the back.

And what I want you to answer is, what do you think the source suggests about the public perception of the Weimar politicians? Now your answer needs to include the following.

It needs to identify an aspect of the cartoon.

So pick out a specific feature of the cartoon to write about, and then you need to explain the historical context it is referring to.

So you're basically using something from the cartoon which allows you to talk about the wider background story that was going on in Germany at the time.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back and well done for having a go at that task.

There's many ways that you could have answered that question.

There's different features that you may have decided to pick out from the cartoon, which then allowed you to elaborate the broader context on.

But compare your answer with what I have here.

"The cartoon shows Weimar politicians stabbing German soldiers in the back as they fight bravely in the trenches." So you can see then that I've described the specific feature I'm talking about in the cartoon.

And now I need to show that I know the broader background story that the cartoon feature is referring to.

"This refers to the 'stab-in-the-back' theory, Dolchstoss, which claimed that Germany's defeat in the First World War was due to the betrayal by Weimar politicians who signed the Armistice.

Military leaders like Hindenburg and Ludendorff encouraged this narrative to deflect blame from themselves.

The cartoon reflects the public perception of Weimar politicians as the November Criminals, who undermined Germany's military efforts by signing the Armistice in November 1918.

Ultimately fostering resentment and a lack of faith in the republic from its very inception." So that's a great cartoon 'cause it really captures how publications, how cartoons, how the public may have viewed Weimar politicians based on how they're depicted in publications, cartoons, newspapers, et cetera.

Okay, great.

So we've already established that there was a simmering anger towards the Weimar politicians, but that really stepped up again, once the Treaty of Versailles was signed.

So let's look at the Treaty of Versailles in the second part of the lesson.

The Treaty of Versailles was negotiated in early 1919 by the victors of the First World War, with the final terms being a diktat.

So in other words, the Treaty of Versailles was dictated to Germany, and they had no say in the matter.

And we can see the cover of the English version of the Treaty of Versailles on the left.

So the treaty was drawn up by the victors of the First World War with Britain, France, and the United States taking the lead in deciding the terms of the piece.

The negotiations took place at the Grand Palace of Versailles near Paris.

Having lost the war, German leaders were excluded from the negotiations and were presented with the final terms as a diktat, a dictated piece.

Despite their objections, they had no say in shaping the treaty and were given little choice but to sign under the threats of renewed war hostilities.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following best defines a diktat? A, when a treaty contains military clauses, B, when something is negotiated before an agreement is made, or C, when something is dictated and you are forced to accept it? Pause the video, have a think, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was C, a diktat is when something is dictated and you are forced to accept it.

So we can already see from the outset that the Treaty of Versailles was a diktat, and that it was pretty much forced on Germany.

And we can imagine how the Germans may have felt having this treaty forced upon them.

Indeed, the Treaty of Versailles imposed terms so severe that it felt more like punishment than peace.

One of the major terms in the treaty involved territorial losses.

Germany was forced to give up territory.

And we can see in the map of Germany, with the main part highlighted in the darker peach colour, but the lighter peach colour highlights the territory that Germany was forced to give up.

These lands were often rich in resources such as the coal fields of the Saar Basin highlighted green on the map, and the industrial regions of Alsace-Lorraine.

Germany was also forced to give up their overseas colonies.

These areas were not merely symbols of national pride, but lifelines for economic recovery.

The map of Europe was redrawn and with each line of ink, the German people felt the sting of humiliation.

Then came the disarmament clauses which placed limits on the might of the German military.

The once formidable army was limited to 100,000 troops.

Also, the army was only to be used within Germany.

Furthermore, the Rhineland, the German territory bordering France, which I've highlighted with the red line, was also declared a demilitarised zone.

Germany was allowed no military in this area.

From the allies perspective, this created a safe buffer zone between Germany and France, reassuring France and aiming to prevent future conflicts.

The German Navy was also gutted.

Its prized ship surrendered or destroyed, and no submarines were permitted.

No air force was allowed either.

The emasculation of the military was intolerable to many war veterans who had fought with honour on the battlefields.

Many Germans felt as if Germany had been robbed of her very identity.

However, from the allies perspective, this was necessary to prevent Germany from starting another war in the future.

Perhaps the harshest blow, however, was Article 231, the War Guilt Clause.

Germany was to formally take the blame for causing the war.

Germany vehemently disagreed with this.

However, this clause legally placed sole responsibility for the war squarely on Germany's shoulders.

The War Guilt Clause gave a legal basis, which meant that Germany had to pay reparations.

These reparations payments were paid to the allies, and this was to compensate them for the staggering cost of the war.

The Weimar politicians argued that this sum placed an unbearable burden on their economy already struggling to recover from the devastation of the war.

Despite their objections, their concerns were dismissed.

In April 1921, the reparations bill was revealed to be 6.

6 billion pounds.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following were requirements placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles? A, accept blame for the war, B, give up territory, C, limits placed on the military, or D, retain control of overseas colonies? Pause the video, elect the treaties requirements, and come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was forced to accept blame for the war, give up some territory, and have limits placed on the military.

Okay, let's have another check here.

What I want you to do is discuss with a partner the following question.

Why was Article 231, the War Guilt Clause, considered to be the most hated clause in the Treaty of Versailles? Pause the video, have a quick discussion, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and I hope you had some fruitful discussion there.

So you might have talked about the fact that the War Guilt Clause placed sole blame on Germany for causing the First World War, which many Germans felt was unjust.

Of course, Germany was not the only country taking part in the war.

You might have also mentioned that the War Guilt Clause made Germany feel deeply humiliated, damaging its national pride and morale.

In other words, that feeling of kinda being told off for starting the war, being blamed for everything, was humiliating to them.

And finally, you might have said something like it was used to enforce the heavy reparations payments which burdened Germany's already struggling economy.

So it's the War Guilt Clause which states Germany accepts the blame for the war, therefore they need to be punished for it via these reparations payments, which would have a massive impact on the German economy which was already struggling.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the first part of Task B.

And you can see I provided you with a map of Germany after the Treaty of Versailles, and the caption reads, "The dismemberment of Germany.

5.

5 million Germans are to be separated from the empire in East and West." So again, we can use this source here, this map, that adds to the wider picture we've been covering in this lesson so far.

So the question I want you to answer is, "What can you learn from the source about the German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles?" I want you to explain your answer using the contextual knowledge you have gained in the lesson.

So pick out something from the map which helps you to talk about the wider picture, the background story we've covered so far.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great, welcome back and well done for having a go at that task.

So once again, there's many ways that you could have answered this question, but compare your answer with the one I have here.

"The source shows that Germans viewed the Treaty of Versailles as humiliating and unjust.

The term dismemberment and the reference to 5.

5 million Germans separated from the empire, emphasises a Germany which is being unfairly broken apart.

This reaction relates to the treaty's territorial terms, which forced Germany to give up land, including Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar Basin.

These losses affected economically important areas.

The map and the caption reflect a widespread anger against the treaty, which fueled public resentment against the Weimar Republic, who they saw as responsible for signing the treaty." Okay, great.

Let's move on to the second part of Task B.

And what I want you to do here is, explain why there was opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in Germany.

And to help you to do that and help you cover the question fully, I want you to try to include the following words in your answer, diktat, War Guilt Clause, reparations, territorial losses, military restrictions, and Dolchstoss.

So use all the knowledge you've gained in the lesson so far to give me a really detailed paragraph or two explaining why there was opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in Germany.

Pause the video, have a go at task, and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

So there's many ways that you could have answered this question, but compare your answer with the one I have here.

"There was significant opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in Germany because it was perceived as a humiliating and unfair diktat.

Germans were not allowed to negotiate the terms and were forced to accept them under threat of renewed war, intensifying feelings of resentment.

The War Guilt Clause, Article 231, blamed Germany entirely for the First World War which many Germans rejected.

This clause justified the 6.

6 billion pounds reparation payments that crippled the German economy.

The treaty also led to severe territorial losses, stripping Germany of key resources like the Saar coal fields, and the industrial regions of Alsace-Lorraine.

Many felt this dismemberment was unjust.

The military restrictions, which reduced the army to 100,000 troops and banned the navy from having submarines, further humiliated Germany and eroded national pride.

Finally, all of this opposition was heightened by the Dolchstoss stab-in-the-back theory, which portrayed the Weimar politicians as traitors who betrayed Germany by signing the treaty." Okay, great, let's summarise today's lesson, "Early unrest and the Treaty of Versailles." The Weimar Republic faced early and significant opposition due to the signing of the Armistice in 1918, and being accused of stabbing the army in the back, Dolchstoss theory.

This perception was reinforced by the Treaty of Versailles.

This diktat imposed significant territorial losses such as Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar Basin.

And Germany's armed forces were reduced to 100,000 troops.

The Rhineland was de militarised and key military capabilities were banned.

The War Guilt Clause, Article 231, justified the 6.

6 billion pounds reparation payments that crippled the German economy.

These measures humiliated Germany, eroded its pride, and created widespread anger toward the Weimar governments for agreeing to its terms. Well done on a brilliant lesson, and thank you for joining me as we've delved into the early unrest environment Germany and the Treaty of Versailles.

This document would have a profound and far reaching impact on history as its harsh terms sow the seeds of deep resentment and economic hardship in Germany.

I'll see you next time when we continue our inquiry.

See you in the next lesson.